


Waves

by fiendingforthesunshine



Series: The Disabled Military Veteran AU [5]
Category: Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Drowning, Gen, Mention of Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, or a fear of it anywhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-13 09:14:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3376058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiendingforthesunshine/pseuds/fiendingforthesunshine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spencer Smith is an ex-Navy Man who is NOT afraid of swimming, thank you very much; he just doesn’t have any reason to get back in the water.</p><p>*Set within Stars and Glitter*</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waves

When Spencer’s rehab doctor at the VA suggested swimming as a way to help his shoulder regain some muscle tone Spencer didn’t laugh in his face. 

Instead he had a panic attack, right there, in the middle of the hallway at the VA. 

Apparently the very idea of swimming was a trigger and Spencer took that as a sign to avoid any and all water that wasn’t coming from a sink or a shower. 

Since then Spencer has done a pretty good job of it. None of his doctors ever brought up the idea again and even Spencer’s therapist left it alone. For almost six years Spencer has been able to avoid one of the stupidest phobias a person could have. 

Until Brendon. 

Brendon was fucking insane. 

Maybe it was because of the whole Ranger thing, or maybe it was because he was the older brother of an uncontrollable 2nd grade heathen. Either way Brendon was a dangerous person to be around. 

Especially at 6:03 in the morning. 

“Spencer Smith, you awake?” 

Spencer huffed into the phone and rolled over to cover his head with his blanket. 

“No. Try again later.”

“Spencer. It’s Brendon and I have a serious request of you.” 

“No you don’t,” Spencer mumbled, “Spring break just started not even 12 hours ago and I’m not taking any serious requests until school opens back up next week.” 

Spencer could hear Brendon shuffling around through the phone and because he’s a good friend Spencer ignored the sound of Brendon tripping over something on the floor. 

“Michael and I want to go to the beach but both our parents are working this whole week. Long beach is only a 5 hour drive at most,” Brendon tripped again, “I’ll give you gas money.” 

“No. A million times no,” Spencer held the phone above his face and squinted his eyes to look for the ‘end’ button on his screen. 

“Mr. Smith?” Michael called, “Mr. Smith… pleeeeeease can you take us to the beach? I’ve never been!” 

Spencer put the phone back to his ear and sighed. This kid. 

“Michael. Put Brendon back on the phone, please.” 

Spencer rubbed his face as the two siblings scuffled on the other side. 

“Spencer?” Brendon chirped. 

“Using Michael is a dirty trick. I’ll be there by seven.” 

\--

“I can’t believe you two are making me do this,” Spencer groaned, glaring at the empty desert ahead of them. They’d just passed the Nevada/California boarder maybe 30 minutes before. 

Spencer isn’t sure if he could’ve continued living in Nevada if he’d been stationed in Iraq. Fucking dirt. 

Brendon was folded up in the front seat and Michael was asleep in the back hiding under a beach towel, “We’re not MAKING you do anything. We just knew you’d be the most sympathetic to our needs,” Brendon shrugged and tapped his fingers over the radio controls, “Besides, you like the beach.” 

Spencer spared a glare over towards Brendon, “You’ve known me for 4 months and we live in an landlocked state. You know what they say about assumptions.” 

Brendon turned his head away from the radio dials to face Spencer and blinked, “Spencer. I don’t know if you know this or not but you were in the Navy.”

“…And?” Spencer shrugged as he kept his eyes on the road. 

“Don’t Navy men like the water? Or at least have some sort of sway towards it? I’m pretty sure that’s a question on the application form.” 

“Is your level of idiocy tested during the Ranger exam?” Spencer snapped back. 

“Ooh, someone’s got an attitude,” Brendon hissed, turning in his seat to straighten himself out. 

“I don’t swim,” Spencer mumbled at the steering wheel after a few moments of silence. 

“You don’t swim?”

“I don’t swim,” Spencer repeated. 

\--

“Michael is going to spend all night crying if you don’t at least put a toe in the water,” Brendon announced as he shook the saltwater out of his hair and continued his stumbling exploration of the sand to where Spencer had set up a variety of beach towels. 

No one was at the beach; it was still pretty cold and a little too early for the spring break partiers that would soon be destroying it. 

Despite all those facts Brendon and Michael had spent a good 30 minutes chest deep in the ocean wrestling each other and diving for shells that Michael pointed out to Brendon so he could go get them. 

Spencer paused his music and glanced to make sure Michael wasn’t adrift in the current somewhere, ‘cause wouldn’t that just be glorious?

“Michael is seven years old and probably won’t remember you dragging me to the beach on a cloudy day in March,” Spencer responded as Brendon found the edge of the beach towel nest with his feet and flopped onto one. 

“Michael has an elephant’s memory, he’ll remember,” Brendon crossed his arms above his head, “Are you going to tell me why you, a former US Navy Man, is afraid of the ocean or am I going to have to guess?” 

Spencer reached over and threw a handful of sand at Brendon’s face and didn’t hold back his cackle at the surprise on his friends face, “I’m not afraid of the water.” 

“Then why won’t you swim?” Brendon asked as he spit sand out of his mouth and tried to rub the sand off his face. 

Spencer didn’t answer, just continued watching Michael from their spot on the beach. He was out of the water now, maybe 50 feet away, the waves occasionally lapping at his feet as he tried to draw in the sand. 

“You know a beach is totally different than an aircraft carrier, right?” Brendon muttered, sitting up and continuing to try and rub the sand off himself. 

Spencer shrugged, “People drown at the beach all the time,” he’s pretty sure at one point he knew the statistics of it but his therapist told him that worrying about those kinds of things were ‘unsafe’ and ‘hazardous to recovery’. Whatever. 

“Yeah and people get bit by spiders and shit too, doesn’t mean it’s gonna happen to you.”

“It did happen to me, asshole.”

Brendon pushed himself up to his feet and held out his hand, “Well it’s not going to happen today, not on my watch.”

“Says the blind guy…” Spencer looked over to Michael who had stopped drawing in the sand and had gone a little farther into the water in anticipation. 

Brendon wiggled his fingers, “Michael’s got good eyes I hear, no one is drowning today, now get your ass in the water.”

Spencer huffed and looked between Brendon, Michael and the water and finally stood up and walked towards the waves.


End file.
